On Tuesday night, the Reader's Ben Joravsky stopped by
the first of Chicago's three mayoral budget hearing to find out how the
city was planning to deal with it's $400 million budget shortfall.
While talk shifted
between city service cuts, political hiring, and the police budget,
Joravsky highlighted a question from a concerned resident
about the possibility of Chicago taxpayers footing the bill for the
2016 Summer Olympics. Daley's response echoed earlier claims: There will be
"no public money for the Olympics," he said. "There will not be any
money used for the Olympics."
Joravksy isn't buying it:
Whew, what a relief. Silly me, I'd thought we were on the hook for at least $500 million ever since last year, when Daley, at the urging of the United States Olympic Committee, got the City Council to, you know, authorize up to $500 million for the games. I believe the USOC called it putting some governmental "skin in the game."
Of course, there's always the possibility that Mayor Daley forgot about that $500 million authorization. Just as it's possible that he forgot his more recent proposal to borrow $85 million to buy and demolish Michael Reese Hospital so he can eventually build the Olympic Village there.
Daley's lack of transparency and consistency on this issue is why the work of groups like Communities for an Equitable Olympics 2016 is so badly needed. If the cash for an Olympic village is ultimately coming out of our pockets, let's make sure there's some guarantees about jobs and housing for our own.
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